Jeanne Assam carried her pistol with her to church on Sunday. She did so legally, having received a license to carry a concealed weapon. If a weapon in church seems incongruous, it also became providential on this particular Sunday, as Assam stopped an assault that may have killed many more people than it did.

Jeanne Assam carried her pistol with her to church on Sunday. She did so legally, having received a license to carry a concealed weapon. If a weapon in church seems incongruous, it also became providential on this particular Sunday, as Assam stopped an assault that may have killed many more people than it did (via Memeorandum and many CapQ readers):

Assam said she believes God gave her the strength to confront Murray, keeping her calm and focused even though he appeared to be twice her size and was more heavily armed. Murray was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, said Sgt. Jeff Johnson of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said.

Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during another service.

Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed.

Murray didn't show up to shoot a couple of people and call it a day. Two handguns, an assault rifle, and over a thousand rounds of ammunition would have equaled a church full of corpses had Assam and others not been able to defend themselves and their fellow parishioners. Before Murray had a chance to really open up on what he assumed was a defenseless congregation, Assam used her training and preparation to save dozens of lives, at the least.

Over the weekend, Mitch and I discussed the Omaha mall shooting, where eight people died in a "gun-free zone" when a lunatic started sniping shoppers. Some questioned whether a CCL holder with a pistol could outmatch a lunatic with a rifle. This shows exactly what one trained shooter can do to defend against someone who randomly selects unarmed targets for slaughter.

And this is the folly of "gun-free zones". Lunatics looking to kill people either will attack at places for which they have some animus (as in the case of the church) or where they can find a lot of unarmed people (as in Omaha). They don't stop because someone puts up a sign designating a site as gun-free, any more than people stop taking drugs because a city puts up a sign that designates a neighborhood as a "drug-free zone", as in my own neighborhood.

All that sign does is prevent the Jeanne Assams from being able to defend the defenseless. That's all it does. It doesn't make anyone more secure or safe, and it has the potential to make a lot of people into victims.

After the Virginia Tech shooting, people asked whether a CCL holder could have made a difference once the shooting started. Jeanne Assam answered that question on Sunday.

This lady was given a gift, by God. She used the gift wisely. America was given this gift, by God. The enemy is the enemy, is the enemy. Does not matter, the enemy’s color, religion, political thought, for the enemy is the enemy, is the enemy, and is of the devil. This gift from God should be used wisely. I hope this gift will.

3
posted on 12/11/2007 5:20:24 AM PST
by From One - Many
(Trust the Old Media At Your Own Risk. I Will Be Voting for Mr. Duncan Hunter, fellow FReepers.)

“After the Virginia Tech shooting, people asked whether a CCL holder could have made a difference once the shooting started. Jeanne Assam answered that question on Sunday.”

I have a CCL, but I usually only carry if we venture into high crime areas - but as this story shows this kind of thing could happen even in an innocent church where you would least expect it. I am going to make a New Years resolution to carry more and practice more often.

Somehow, I cannot imagine that the social conservatives who are hailing Assam as a hero are going to vote for someone like Huckleberry. He is the opposite end of the spectrum and not a good prospect for President.

I suspect that if someone were to try something like this in my church, he’d get shot from about 5 different directions. A lot of current and former military and police personnel attend my church. It’s a gun-loving bunch.

Did you see Huck on Hannity and Colmes last night? He responded to the issue of why he helped spring a rapist from jail who later committed murder. I’ve never seen so much double talk.

Later, Dick Morris tried to give an excuse for him, claiming that the reason they let him go was because they were afraid he’d be murdered by his fellow inmates, who’d already castrated him. Morris did not understand why Huck did not use that excuse, but I can see why he did not. That just rubs it in, doesn’t it? He would be using his own failure to maintain order in the prisons as an excuse to justify a further dereliction of duty. If you’re going to use that as an excuse to release a rapist, then why not use it as an excuse to release this guy again, as a murderer?

I belong to a large church that started in the pastor’s living room 20 years ago and is on the verge of becoming a mega-church. A few years ago I had reason to have ind-depth discussions with the Director of Operations. People think his job includes making sure the furnace operates correctly, but in fact it revolves around security. It’s surprising how many security problems a church can have. People in trouble gravitate toward a church, and sometimes that trouble can take the form of mental illness. In other cases the trouble can take the form of a woman with a dangerous husband or ex, or a parishioner with drug problems, or one with a past criminal history. There have been threats against the pastor, who is standing up in front of a congregation in a state of maximum vulnerability. Considering also how much raw cash is carried around the building after each service, one can also understand that there might be a threat of robbery. So our church not only has tons of off-duty cops directing traffic, but also a number of plain-clothes cops attending services. There are security mirrors and windows with which to observe the congregation and an alarm system. This is sad, but it has come into use.

"It was just me, the gunman, and God." I identified myself, I engaged him and then I took him down," she said at the press conference. "I didn't run away. I didn't think for a minute to run away. I knew I was the one given the assignment to stop this thing."

A caller to a Twin Cities talk show yesterday said she attends a large church in the northern suburbs. She said her church has had armed plain clothed guards for several years because there have been numerous threats against the staff and the building. I think it's going to get harder and harder to be a Christian.

If a weapon in church seems incongruous, it also became providential on this particular Sunday

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